Read More

She motivated herself by deciding to donate the money she saved from not buying Coke to the NSPCC. But it was not an easy challenge.

She stocked up on a “multitude” of other drinks, including smoothies, juices, flavoured water and cups of tea, and gave all her remaining Coke Zero cans to her partner Sean Rouen.

“I found it really hard,” Ms Dean said. “It was super hard and I felt like I was getting more headaches and for the first week feeling even more tired too without Coke.

“I found a nice flavoured water which was infused with cucumber and another infused with jasmine. Those were nice, cold and refreshing and I used them as substitutes for my thirst for Coke Zero.”

After 30 long days, Ms Dean managed to complete the fundraiser and for the first time in almost 25 years she was able to abstain from drinking Coke.

Ms Dean hopes to inspire others to rid of their addictions with her own story (Image: hulldailymail.co.uk)

However, rather than eliminate Coke from her life completely, the mum decided to cut down her consumption and drink it in moderation going forward.

“I knew after that month there was no way I could go back to the amount I was drinking. I don’t gulp cans like I used to and there have been some days where I’ve just had a small can with my tea.

“It has not taken over - I won’t let it, and I’ve convinced myself it doesn’t taste as good as what it used to.”

She said: “Picking a charity spurred me on and the thought of the money going to someone else was more of an incentive.

“I knew I was never going to give it up for life because that is unachievable. But I needed to do something drastic and set myself a strict challenge with a start date and finish date, and this was it.”

What Coca-Cola says

Coca Cola says their drink is not addictive (Image: hulldailymail.co.uk)

Coca-Cola has always denied that either the caffeine or the sugar in its drinks are addictive.

There are 32mg of caffeine in a 330ml can of Coca-Cola, compared with 100ml in a mug of instant coffee.

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2015, the multinational firm said the company has used caffeine as a “safe ingredient” for more than 125 years in its product.

It added that people who are “addicted to sugar” are not being scientifically robust.

Coca-Cola has been contacted for an additional comment in response to Ms Dean’s story.